


Little and Broken, but Still Good

by donutsweeper



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Action Figures, Anthropomorphic, Community: avengerkink, Gen, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 09:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper/pseuds/donutsweeper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Action Figure Steve came off the line broken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little and Broken, but Still Good

__

_This is my family. I found it, all on my own._  
 _Is little, and broken, but still good._  
 _Yeah, still good._  
"Lilo  & Stitch"

* * *

Action Figure Steve came off the line broken.

He'd been moving along happily, coming out of the mold just fine and then got his coloring sprayed on before being dried and set with a blast of hot air. He was perfect, just like every other Action Figure in the line ahead of him and all the ones that would come after him. Standing at attention, shield in hand, he was strong and tall, an imposing figure that would make the _real_ Captain America proud. But then disaster struck. Just as he was turning the corner, about to be sent down the line to packaging, the conveyor belt stuttered and instead of moving gently he slammed into corner, tipping over and his wonderful shield cracked in two.

An alarm sounded, one long bleat, and the belt came to a stop and Action Figure Steve couldn't help but be aware that all other Action Figures were staring at him and that was when he knew- he knew he would never have a chance to be packaged up and shipped to a toy store. He'd never get purchased and given to a child to be played with and loved. He'd never be tossed in a backpack and have epic battles during recess or ordered to scale a sandcastle and save a toy car from a fate worse than death. 

No, that was not to be the life for him. No one wanted a toy that was cracked. Broken toys didn't get played with. Or loved. He was pretty sure they were considered no better than trash and he was going to sent to the incinerator or melted down to be used again. 

"What'a we got here?" one of the humans that worked the big machines asked as he walked up to the conveyor belt. "A Captain America doll with a busted shield, eh?" 

He was an Action Figure, not a doll, but Action Figure Steve decided now was neither the time nor place to correct the man. Especially since he didn't feel very actiony any more, not with a broken shield.

The man picked him up and then pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Start 'er back up, Stan. I got the broken one." There was another alarm, two short bursts this time, and then the belt started back up. "And it's to the tower with you," he told Action Figure Steve and he walked away from the various machines and dropped him into a sack by the exit.

It was dark in the sack and very lonely and Action Figure Steve waited and waited and waited in there, worrying over what it meant to be taken to the tower. He had never heard of the tower before and didn't know what it was. Was it a really large dumpster? Some sort of crushing machine? He supposed it didn't matter; whatever it was, it did not sound good.

Eventually he felt the sack being picked up and he was jostled about as he was first carried around for a bit before being set down in a vehicle of some kind and driven somewhere for a while. Eventually, they must have reached their destination and Action Figure Steve steeled himself when a hand reached into the sack and grabbed him.

"Is that a delivery from the factory? What do they have for us today?" he heard someone ask.

"Well, I thought they'd finally worked all the bugs out of the production line since there hasn't been a broken toy in months, but I guess not since they've sent us this one." Then suddenly, Action Figure Steve was out of the sack and half blinded by the light. "All right!" the man holding him exclaimed. "Hey, Cap! It's you!" He found himself waggled back and forth back and forth in front of another person's face. 

Hey, wait a minute. That was not just another random person. That was Captain America. The actual Captain America, Steve Rogers, the man he was modeled after. 

Captain America reached out and removed Action Figure Steve from the hand he was dangling from. "Quit it, Tony. You could damage him further."

Tony? That probably meant... Yes, he could see over Captain America's shoulder and the man who had pulled him out of the sack was Tony Stark. Iron Man. Wow. The tower was the Avenger's Tower? Why on Earth would anyone have brought a broken toy here?

"Thanks for this, Tony," Captain America said, his fingers tracing over Action Figure Steve's features and lingering on the cracked shield. "I know it's stupid."

"Hey, Babe, we've discussed this before." Resting in Captain America's palm, Action Figure Steve watched as Iron Man came up behind Captain America and wrapped his arms around him. "Imperfections don't mean something's wrong and broken isn't the same as unwanted. And if that means some Avengers action figures find homes with us, then so be it. I opened my home to the real Avengers, I may as well provide one for these guys too." 

Captain America reached up and placed Action Figure Steve on a shelf already half full with other broken Avengers Action Figures and other toys. There were three Thors, a Natasha, two Clints, five Tonys, several helicarriers, and others further down. All had been damaged in some way, but all still looked like they were being taken care of.

"Welcome home," Captain America whispered and raised Action Figure Steve's arm up so he was in a fighting stance. "I hope you like it here."

"You really are a big sap, you know that?" Iron Man said fondly, shaking his head. "Come on you, you can play with your dolls-"

"Action figures, Tony. They're action figures."

"Whatever." Iron Man grabbed Captain America and began pulling him out of the room. "You can play with them later. You've got other, more important things to be doing with your time right now. And most of them involve me."

"Tony!" Captain America protested, but he allowed himself to be dragged away. 

Action Figure Steve watched as the two of them left, laughing happily and joking with one another and couldn't help but be content with how things turned out. This wasn't going to be the future he'd expected to have, but it would be a good one. And that was all that mattered in the end.


End file.
